What to know for Thanksgiving traffic this week
Nov 22, 2016, 5:41 AM | Updated: 12:57 pm
When it comes to holiday travel in Washington, it comes down to leaving really early, or leaving late to beat the traffic. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
There is one truth when it comes to holiday travel around Washington: leave early or leave late or else you will likely be stuck in traffic. And Thanksgiving traffic is no exception.
I sat down with a traffic analysts at Kirkland-based INRIX for his advice for getting around.
“The peak traffic hour on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is actually around 4 p.m.,” said Inrix Senior Economist Bob Pishue. “So when looking at the region as a whole, the peak traffic hour is in the afternoon as you would expect on a typical day.
“You actually don’t see the typical morning commute,” Pishue continued. “If you do go into work you likely won’t be as bad as any other Wednesday. We do notice that congestions does build in the afternoon and early evening.”
So, in other words, Wednesday afternoon might look more like a typical Friday afternoon.
If you’re headed to Sea-Tac Airport, Pishue says avoid driving from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday if you can.
“Expect to see about double the normal time you would expect on a holiday,” Pishue said. “Just due to the sheer number of people going to the airport. People should budget an extra 20 minutes or so, at least for the drive. And probably even more for TSA.”
It’s not so much to do with Thanksgiving traffic, but Pishue has a little advice for parking if you’re going to be out over the entire weekend.
“We found that you could save about $80 over the whole five-day Thanksgiving weekend by parking at an offsite lot as opposed to at the airport,” Pishue said. “While you may be sitting in traffic congestion getting to the airport, hopefully, you could save a little bit of money by choosing a cheaper place to park.”
That’s about 75 percent off of your parking fee if you don’t mind catching a shuttle to the terminal.
The mall and Thanksgiving traffic
And because Thanksgiving week usually means a trip to the mall for many of us, INRIX took a look at mall traffic. Even though you might miss out on some door-buster deals on Black Friday, you won’t waste as much time in traffic around the mall if you wait until the afternoon.
You don’t get to trample anyone (or be trampled), though, so what’s the fun in that?
And thrown into the mix this year is the expectation of heavy snow across the passes. Be sure to have your car prepped, pack extra food, water and blankets just in case.
